CyanogenMod In The Works For Galaxy S II, Thanks To Samsung

We usually think of work on custom ROM replacements like CyanogenMod 7 as taking place well outside the world of official manufacturer-blessed activities. The ones that haven't been openly hostile towards the practice (though some are getting better, like Sony Ericsson and soon Motorola) just seem to steer clear of that scene altogether. Samsung, though, may be looking to establish itself as a mod-friendly company, since it's apparently provided a CyanogenMod developer a Galaxy S II of his own to use towards creating a CM7 build for the smartphone. 

CyanogenMod developer atinm received the smartphone from Samsung earlier today, with the understanding that he use it towards the goal of crafting an official CM7 release for the platform. It might have been a lot easier for him, and would make a bolder statement about the company's commitment towards projects like these, had Samsung also hooked him up with unreleased documentation on thephone. He recently followed-up his initial tweet commenting on this issue, noting that he believes from his contacts with the company that it might like to help him out more along this line, but it may be bound itself by agreements it's made with other companies regarding their trade secrets. 

We don't know when atinm might be able to release some usable code for the SGS2, but while we're excited about that possibility, the thing we're really happy about is seeing a smartphone manufacturer embrace a hacking community like this. Do you think Samsung could just be an outlier, or is this a sign of things to come? 

Update: He's not the only one to get an SGS2 to develop with; looks like Samsung is very serious about this! 

Source: atinm 1, 2, 3 (Twitter) 
Via: Android Central